Improvement in fruit-driers



2 Sheets- 151111911- 1.

1W. BUTTS.- Fruit-Driel.

No. 217,510. Patented July 15, 1879.

2 Sheets-'Sheet 2.

W. BUTTS. vFruit-Driel.

No. 217,510. Patented July|5,14879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEiAoE.,

WILLIAM BUTTS, OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT lNiFRUlT-DRIERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 217,510, dated July 15,1879; application filed i February24, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM BU'rTs, of`

the city of Petaluma, county of Sonoma, and

, specification, and forming a part of the same.

My invention has reference to an improved fruit, vegetable, and hopdrier; and it consists of the devices andarrangements hereinafterdescribed.

Referring' to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is aperspective of the fruit-drier with front portion cut away, showingdisposition of shelves and registers in- Fig. 2 is a detached view ofbell-crank movement to open or close the register. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is aperspective of car for handling the fruit-trays.

Let A represent the house or structure inside of which thedrying-chamber is arranged. This structure can be made of any desiredsize, from that of a small box up to that of a large room. I build thisstructure upon a brick or other suitable foundation, B, which may beeither under or above ground, and which is of vsufficient height toprovide a considerable space underneath the chamber. Inside of thisbasement I construct the furnace O, which will heat the air in theentire space underneath the dryin g chamber or house.

The drying-chamber I makel to extend directly through the middle of theroom or structure from end to end, and on each side of it I construct aseries of side chambers, with valved openings, through which the heatedair from the basement or furnace-room is admitted into thedrying-chamber.

I first construct a low wall, D, on each side of the drying-chamber,which extends from the floor upward a short distance along the entirelength of theroom or structure, and I secure a horizontal shelf, E, uponthis wall, which extends back to and abuts against the main wall of thebuilding or room. In this horizontal shelf I make an opening, f, and Iarrange a horizontal slide or valve, g, so that it can be moved forwardto cover the opening or back to uncover it, as desired. The spaceunderneath this first shelf com municates freely with the hot-air spaceunderneath the structure, the floor being cut away, .so that a freepassage of the hot air into this side chamber or box is permitted. Thefloor of the dryingchamber extends from this low wall on one side to thelow wall 011 the opposite side, and it is made with transverse openingsI I I at intervals. A sliding floor, J, rests upon this first door, andit has openings K K 1K, similar to those in the lower floor, so'that bysliding the upper door in one direction the openings will be uncovered,so as to admit hot air directly into the chamber through the floor, andby sliding it in an opposite direction the openings will be closl d, soas to make a tight door and prevent the entrance of hot air through it,the whole forming a register in the door of the drying-chamber. Thisfloor-register I only require under certain circumstances, hereinafterexplained; ordinarily, therefore, it is kept closed.

On the inner side of each of the low walls D, I secure a rail -or ledge,l, which will support the lowermost series of trays.

At a short distance above the horizontal shelf E, I secure anotherhorizontal shelf, M, on each side of the chamber, so that the twoshelves will be opposite eachother, andin this shelf I also make anopenin g similar to j'. In the lower shelf I also arrange ahorizontallysliding` valve, g', similar to g, on the lower shelf, sothat it can be thrown forward and cover this opening, or be thrown backand u1)- covcr it, in the same manner as described for the horizontalshelf E. On the edge of each of these opposite shelves I secure or forma rail or ledge, p, for supporting the second series of trays. I thenarrange as many other horizontal shelves at intervals apart, one aboveanother, as the height of the room or structure will admit, so as tomake as many supporting-ledges as desired. The top or roof of thestructure above the drying-chamber I also construct with openings Q anda slidingcover, R, which is provided with openings in the same manner asabove described for the oor.

It will be noticed that between each two side shelves a side chamber isformed by the above-described arrangement, into which the heated air isrst admitted, and that the inlow of air is directly upward into thisside chamber instead of into the main chamber, as has heretofore beenthe case. This prevents the heated air from impinging directly againstthe trays and fruit when it first enters the chamber, which, it has beendiscovered, has the effect of drying the fruit unevenly, and often ofscorching or burning it where it first impinges; but by admitting it rstinto the side chambers it ilows gently and gradually out into the mainchamber, and the effect is uniform. Again, by closing the openingsthrough the shelves on each side alternately the heated air is compelledto travel across under one lseries of trays and up through the openingon the opposite side, thence across between the next two trays, thenceupward again, and so on back and forth between the trays from bottom totop; or if I find that the heat is too great 011 the lower trays, I openthe valves on both sides above the inlet-openings in the lower shelves,so that the heated air passes directly upward. In fact, by thisarrangement of side chambers and valved openings I can perfectly controlthe temperature in any part of lthe chamber, so as to dry the substanceunder treatment in a perfectlyuniform manner. l

For operating each of the valves g g, I employ a bell-crank, s, one armof which is hinged to the inside wall of the structure, opposite themiddle of the shelf, while the opposite arm is connected with the shelfby a link, t. A rod, u, has one end attached to the angle of thebell-crank, while its opposite end passes through the end ofthestructure. By pulling upon this rod the valve is closed, and by pushingIit in the valve is opened, the two operations being accomplished by alongitudinal movement of the rod. This allows me to handle the valveseasily without requiring any large hole for the hot air to escapethrough, as thel rods can pass through a stuffing-box, which will closethe opening perfectly tight.

At bach end of the drying-chamber I arrange two or more do'ors, V, sothat I can get at any particular shelf or series of trays withoutopening the doors opposite the otherl shelves, and thus prevent anyexcessive escape of hot air. In case I want to dry quickly I open theoor and roof registers, which will allow a free and voluminous passageof heated air up through the chamber; or I can open the registers moreor less, as required; but

' thisv is seldom necessary.

I have also devised a novel carriage and car for handling the iilledtrays in putting them into and taking them out of the drying-chamber,for which I propose to make a separate application. y

I thus provide a drying apparatus in which the heat can be regulated,directed, and managed with the most perfect ease, so that substances canbe dried without danger of being scorched or unevenly dried.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

l. A drying chamber having horizontal shelves E M arranged on each sideof it, in each of whichshelves is an opening, j', which can be closed bya valve, g, substantially as and for the Apurpose described.

2. The combination of horizontal shelves E M, arranged on each side ofthe main dryingchamber so as to form intermediate side chambers orrecesses, into which the heated air is admitted through horizontalopeningsf, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The horizontal shelves E M, arranged on each side of thedrying-chamber, with their horizontal openings f, valves-g, and ledgesor rails lp, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The valves g, operated by means of the bell-crank s, link t, and rodu, substantially as above specified.

5. A drying-chamber having the low wall D on each side at the bottom ofthe chamber, said wall having a valved cover, E, the space underneathsaid cover communicating with the furnace-chamber, and having one ormore horizontal shelves, M, arranged at intervals above said cover, toeach of which is attached a rail or ledge, Z p, combined and arranged tooperate substantially as above described.

6. A drying-chamber having a Hoor-register and a roof-register, andhaving horizontal side shelves, E M, each of which is provided with avalved opening, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I hereunto attach my hand and seal.

WM. BUTTS. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

W. FLOYD DUGKETT, W. F. CLARK.

